Pope: Creativity and simplicity, the style of mission guided by the Holy Spirit

Also today at the general audience Francis entrusted a collaborator with the reading of the text of the catechesis. The proclamation of the Gospel "is not a manual to be applied but the work of the Spirit". A new call to prayer for peace "especially in Ukraine, Israel and Palestine. War is always a defeat, only the arms manufacturers gain".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - The Holy Spirit is the protagonist of the mission, because "the Church does not announce itself, but a grace, a gift". The message entrusted today by Pope Francis to the pilgrims present in the Paul VI Hall for the Wednesday audience.

Even today the pontiff, due to the respiratory inflammation that has been afflicting him for a few weeks now, entrusted the reading of his catechesis to Monsignor Filippo Ciampanelli, an official of the Secretariat of State. “I'm still struggling. I feel much better, but I get tired if I talk too much,” he explained.

Continuing the cycle of reflections on evangelization, Pope Francis focused on what he defined as "a final essential characteristic: the announcement must take place in the Holy Spirit". Because "the Spirit is the protagonist, he always precedes the missionaries and makes the fruits sprout". mission - in fact - "is not a manual to be applied but a work of the Spirit".

The primacy of the Spirit - he added - "must not, however, lead us to indolence. The courageous resourcefulness that the Spirit instills leads us to imitate his style, which always has two characteristics: creativity and simplicity".

“In our era, which does not help us to have a religious outlook on life and in which proclamation has in various places become more difficult, tiring, apparently fruitless – he explained – the temptation to desist from pastoral service can arise.

Maybe we take refuge in safety zones, such as the habitual repetition of things we always do, or in the tempting calls of an intimate spirituality, or even in a misunderstood sense of the centrality of the liturgy. They are temptations that disguise themselves as fidelity to tradition, but often, rather than responses to the Spirit, they are reactions to personal dissatisfaction. Instead - he warned - pastoral creativity, being bold in the Spirit, burning with his missionary fire, is proof of fidelity to Him".

And then simplicity, "because the Spirit takes us to the source, to the first announcement". Every missionary action must lead us to repeat to every person we meet: "Jesus Christ loves you, he gave his life to save you, and now he is alive at your side every day, to enlighten you, to strengthen you, to free you".

"Let us allow ourselves to be captivated by the Spirit and invoke him every day - concludes Francis' catechesis - may He be the principle of our being and our work; be at the beginning of every activity, meeting, gathering and announcement. He vivifies and rejuvenates the Church."

Greeting the groups of pilgrims present, the Pope then reminded everyone of the now imminent solemnity of the Immaculate Conception: "Mary believed in God's love and responded with her 'yes'. Learn from her full trust in the Lord to bear witness to evangelical goodness and love everywhere."

Finally he once again invited everyone to pray for those suffering the tragedy of war, "in particular the populations of Ukraine, Israel and Palestine. War is always a defeat - he repeated again -. Nobody wins, everyone loses. Only the manufacturers of the weapons earn."

• Pope Francis
• general audience
• mission
• evangelisation